A blog about video games and not much else. Updates at intervals of time.

Monday, September 21, 2015

Final Fantasy 6: Music

[NOTE: This article has
an absolutely enormous amount of song links. You may want to reserve reading it
for a time when your ears are available.]

Though not a rule, I
generally don’t review current, popular games here on this blog. The reason for
this is the same that I’m confronted with trying to talk about Final Fantasy 6:
Everything I could say has already been said. The music of Final Fantasy and
series composer Nobuo Uematsu is some of the most publicly beloved in all of video games. For many people,
Final Fantasy 6 is the highlight of his musical career. In spite of my love of
game music and some previous experience as a musician, I’m no music critic. Far
more qualified and knowledgeable people have spoken on these songs. No matter
how I try, this post will never be anything close to definitive. It may not be all that deep or insightful.

But sometimes, as someone
who produces creative or critical content, you just have to accept that. I’m
not writing this post to be the one true post to rule them all. I’m writing it
because I love this music, I want to share this music, and I want to talk about
this music. With any luck, what I lack in technical knowledge can be made up
for in enthusiasm.

So first, let’s follow
up that introduction with a second one.

“Oh, no yeah that’s
cool. I love introductions. Who even needs real content, let’s just have an
article full of those.”

The Early Songs of Final Fantasy

Before I gush about the
music of Final Fantasy 6, some history might help. Nobuo Uematsu composed the
music to every Final Fantasy game up through Final Fantasy 10. Even when people
look back on his earlier days, response is positive. The themes of Final
Fantasy 1-5 still teased memorable melodies and a great range of moods out of
the limited hardware of the day. It would take some time to go through each
previous soundtrack, and they don’t vary enough that it’s necessary. But to
give some context to FF6, we’ll take a quick look at the most iconic (and
consequently only US) releases prior: FF1 and FF4.

The music of the original
Final Fantasy isn’t fantastic. The tracks are quite short, there aren’t many to
go around, and they feature just 3 channels of rudimentary sound. In terms of
composition, they’re very simple. There’s little variation in the level of
volume, and likewise the tempo never changes. In spite of this, and the clear improvements
of later games, there’s something to appreciate here. For example...

[NOTE 2: The links for
these first songs are all exactly 3 minutes, despite this being ridiculously
long for these short loops. Unfortunately, it was this or picking a playlist
with sound issues, apologies.]

The Prelude is a theme remixed in the title of every Final Fantasy game, and it’s
incredibly straightfoward. But the echoing arpeggios illustrate just how iconic the
very simple sounds of the game can be. The Prologue,
which would become the central theme of early Final Fantasy games, is still a
nice tune. However, compared to later, more dramatic renditions, the limited
space and quick tempo find it lacking. Theme’s such as Corneria Castle manage to slow the pace down a bit, but we see the price of that in how bloody
short it is. It sounds fine the first time, but the lack of variation and
20-second loop really wear on you. Some songs like Gurgu Volcano work more at a pace more naturally suited to the chiptunes of the NES. There’s
still not much depth, but it’s catchy.

When you listen to the
music of Final Fantasy 4, there’s clear improvement. Part of this is due to the
expanded capabilities of the Super Nintendo, but the difference is striking
enough that I’d say Uematsu has also improved as a composer. A clear example is
hearing The Prologue, which
has already come quite a ways from the original version. There’s not just more
realistic sound, but more build-up, more contrasting highs and lows, which give
it a grander, fuller feeling. Take a listen to the Lunarian’s Theme.
You know what you’re hearing that wasn’t in the NES music? Silence. The booming bass notes are given time to reverberate, to
breathe. The tempo in songs is more varied as well. Listening to the tune of
Edward’s Lute you can hear
not just the volume but the speed of it rising and lowering. The music of FF4
also fits a wider range of moods than before. The tone of those previous songs
are wildly different from the tense action of the Boss Battle Theme,
or the upbeat goofiness of the Chocobo Theme.

So the individual songs
grow more engaging and emotional from FF1 to FF4. On top of that, music used a
wider range of instruments, fit a larger selection of moods, and drew
inspiration from more musical genres. All the same, the soundtrack of Final
Fantasy 4 isn’t perfect. It has some limitations, plenty of songs aren’t
classics, and there’s room for improvement. Fortunately, Nobuo Uematsu didn’t
stop improving. This brings us at last to Final Fantasy 6.

There’s a quote about the
soundtrack of FF6 which I remember to this day, from Uematsu himself in an
interview. Sadly I couldn’t find the interview again, as there are so many
interviews, concerts and retrospectives on the man that it’s difficult to find
a specific one from years ago. Assuming my memory isn’t lying, what Uematsu
said was that Final Fantasy 6 was the first game he could retire satisfied
after finishing. This neatly sums up my feelings on the music of FF6.

Some of the greatest
songs in the series came from FF7 through FF10, and I would be hard pressed to
tell you what my favorite soundtrack is between them. But FF6 was the first
game to enter that debate. Though the games before had their moments, none of
them are contenders for best Final Fantasy soundtrack, let alone best
soundtrack of all time. Music is subjective and your mileage may vary, but I
think FF6 is a genuine contender for those titles. So massive preamble aside,
let’s go song-by-song through some of my favorites, starting with...

Character Themes

Every single one of the
fourteen playable characters has their own musical theme. These musical themes
vary wildly in mood and style, and the characters wouldn't be
half as memorable without them. Even more surprising than a Super Nintendo game
dedicating 14 songs just for playable characters is the fact that they’re all good.

Terra’s Theme is probably the best place to start, as she’s the first playable character.
Her theme also doubles as the main theme of the game, which you hear as you
traverse the overworld. This version of the song is less about Terra and more
about the first half of the game as a whole. It’s high adventure in the form of
a massively memorable melody.

Coin of Fate is the theme of brothers Edgar and Sabin. More specifically, it’s the
melancholy version we see when they reminisce about their past together. It
really brings the emotion out of an already well-done scene. The first half of
the song has the feel of a solemn music box, with isolated trills of notes
ringing in the silence. In the second half I particularly enjoy the
reverberating bass notes and sustained strings.

Cyan’s Theme provides contrast from the previous tunes in an eastern sound representative of
the serious old samurai it belongs to. The latter half of the song has a
majestic, flowing force to it while keeping the baseline of the drums and bells. And
like all themes in this game, there’s a strong underlying melody.

Shadow’s Theme shows further variety with completely different instruments from the previous
songs. A laid back guitar riff, a twanging string and a wandering, whistling
lead combine for a tune that wandered straight out of an old western. A fitting
piece for the silent, wandering mercenary it represents.

Mog’s Theme is interesting because as one of the secret party members, he has almost
nothing going for him. With only a few lines in the entire game and no impact
on the greater plot, he barely qualifies as a character. And yet effort was
still put into giving him a catchy and unique sounding theme. A punchy,
rhythmic drum beat contrasts with upbeat, flowing flute sequences, the
background punctuated with plucking of intermittent, tangy strings. For someone
so insubstantial otherwise, it nearly conjures a character out of thin air from
the music alone.

Area Themes

The Mines of Narshe is one of the first songs in the game, and a great introduction to the games
area themes. Though perhaps not as iconic as the character themes, it still
grants some personality to what’s otherwise just a mining town in the middle of
frozen nowhere. It reminds me a lot of some Final Fantasy 7 songs, with melancholy
strings and a jazzy bassline. It differentiates itself with a tinkling piano
and an interestingly placed breathing sound, bringing to mind the icy, empty
mines it scores.

The Veldt offers something near opposite of the mines. It uses tight tribal beats and
short, sharp strings to paint a picture of the open, sun-drenched savanna. The
song has got a great groove going for it, and I particularly like the
percussive breakdown it throws down before the end of the loop.

Phantom Train offers a unique song for a unique locale. You’d think a haunted train car would
be filled with creepy atmospheric noise or wailing spirits. This tune takes a
different direction. We start out with a pretty nice imitation of train tracks
for the Super Nintendo, which fades into a single, haunting piano line. (At
least I think it’s a piano of some sort, old sound fonts can make it hard to
tell sometimes). The silence it leaves is suddenly filled with a big, booming
waltz, which somehow fits the setting perfectly. My favorite part remains the
piano though, whose relative silence stands out against the noise when it
returns at the end of the loop.

Devil’s Lab is one of the more popular tunes on the FF6 soundtrack, if the amount of remixes
I’ve heard are anything to go by. It’s easy to see why, as it’s one of the
catchier melodies with a very distinctive sound. The massive magical factory it
scores is well represented with mechanical clangs and beeping beats. The horns and
strings are perfectly positioned to blend with the more electronic noise for a
very steampunk sound.

Kids Run Through the City is the last area theme
I’d like to share, not because it’s some stand-out track for a strange, unique
part of the game. Rather, I find it heartening because despite being the
standard village theme used most in the game, it still sounds great. The calm
and steady guitar, dual flutes and strings all combine for a peaceful, idyllic
melody appropriate for nothing out-of-the-ordinary. And when
nothing-out-of-the-ordinary is this pleasant, it’s extraordinary.

The Rest

For contrast, let’s look
at something Final Fantasy 6 isn’t utterly fantastic at. I don’t think Final
Fantasy 6 has the greatest battle themes of the series. I would probably grant
that to another game like Final Fantasy 7. There’s
something in that soundtrack more suited to getting your blood pumping for a
fight; every battle theme in it is incredible. That isn’t to say the fight songs
in FF6 are bad. I quite like the frantic strings and head-bobbing drums and
bass of its Boss Theme. Not
to mention I’ve already given a passionate diatribe on the game’s final boss
theme, Dancing Mad, in a
previous article on gaming’s best organ music.
(At a couple years old the writing is dated, but it gets the point across). So in
spite of a couple great songs, there’s one part of the Final Fantasy 6 soundtrack
that isn’t the best it could possibly be. No yeah, that really was the extent
of my criticism this article.

Save Them brings back the gushing praise with an exuberant, fast-paced tribute to heroics.
It has a feel of swashbuckling adventure to it, with its speedy strings, boisterous
horns and bombastic crash cymbals. My favorite part of the piece is where it
brings in a brief, energetic version of Terra’s theme. This is called a
leitmotif, a recurring musical theme associated with people or ideas. It gets
used a fair bit in these later Final Fantasy games. Lots of the character
themes in FF6 get melancholy variants for appropriate scenes, and/or brief
appearances in other songs. In the first half of the ending, there’s even a
massive mix of every character theme that plays as each of them gets a small
scene. It’s wonderful, but probably a bit lengthy to show here.

Johnny C. Bad is a terribly stupid and also awesome thing to name a song. It’s lighter fare,
a jaunty bar tune with a catchy, swinging piano melody. The active snare drums
give it a nice energy, and the mid-song bass breakdown is also pretty fun.

Aria di Mezzo Carattere is a song with enough fans that I’d be remiss to skip it. Partway through the
game a series of events forces our heroes to take part in a full-on opera. The
opera features several songs, but this one is the most remembered. Some may be
put off by the imitation-vocal noises, which were somewhat limited by the
hardware of the day. That being said, this really is a strong composition. It
has a proper sense of pacing, building over time and hitting just the right
tone for the ending. Beyond perhaps the voice the instruments are effectively
used and hold up well. And the melody itself is extremely memorable, later
doubling as the performing character’s theme.

There are so many more songs I could share. When I
enjoy a game’s music, I go through song by song, only downloading the ones I
could listen to many times over. Typically this isn’t even half, especially
with larger soundtracks. But sitting on my computer is well over 2/3rds of the
FF6 soundtrack, nearly 50 songs. I’ve repeatedly enjoyed them all. This is a
wonderful collection of music, and even though I couldn’t share most of them, I’ve
tried to show as much depth and variety as possible. Hopefully you found
something you enjoy in there.

I don’t know where it would
rank exactly, but I count Final Fantasy 6 among some of the best musical scores
I’ve ever heard. I’m not alone in this feeling either. Overclocked Remix, one
of the most popular sources of video game remixes, did an album on FF6. Called
Balance and Ruin, the album was the largest they’ve
ever done. Featuring 74 tracks and nearly as many participants, it remixes
every song from the game at least once and contains over 6 hours of music.
Given its scope, I thought I’d point it out and mention a quick sample of some
remixes I enjoyed.

Remember when I said
Shadow’s theme sounded like a western? Well A Fistful of Nickels takes that premise to it’s logical, bombastic conclusion. The original Phantom
Train a grim, austere waltz. Yet somehow the song is tonally transformed into a
toe-tapping train tune in Gobble, Snarf, Snap.
My last recommendation is an ambitious, emotional combination of several
sources. Every part of FF6’s famous opera scene is remixed in the Bohemian
Rhapsody-esque odyssey that is The Impresario.
If any of these interest you enough for more, the entire album is free, along
with thousands of other game remixes on ocremix.org.

And with that, our
winding musical journey together draws to a close. Final Fantasy 6 isn’t
perfect. The combat and gameplay are filled with flaws, and the story has some
issues in execution. But the memorable characters and outright fantastic music
impressed upon me why so many people love this game. As a final parting note, I’d
like to share with you it’s version of the first song of the series, The Prelude. I could say plenty
about it, but I won’t. It’s beautiful, and that’s all it needs to be.